Class 2: Personality—The Three Essential Traits of the CEO

Abstract

There are three personality traits that our experts believe to be essential for any CEO’s success: curiosity, ambition and passion (or CAP for short). Although there’s not much talk of curiosity in the academic literature on leadership, for our experts it seems to be a non-negotiable requisite. They also shared some very specific practices that can enhance curiosity—from experimenting to travelling widely and speaking with strangers. Ambition has long been associated with effective leadership, and for our CEOs, the challenge is how to make leadership ambition sustainable. Ironically, according to our interviewees, success can be a bigger threat to ambition than failure. If there’s one practical tip that emerges from our research it is: never, ever, rest on your laurels and always keep looking to the future. Passion for what they do helps CEOs to aspire to new heights, learn new tricks, focus on results and enjoy hard work. It’s essential for world-class performance in all spheres of human activity—and leadership is no exception.